Mass Effect: The Corpse Bride
by bodzaital
Summary: The well-known story fitted into the world of Mass Effect: When former Alliance Commander John Shepard practises his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a banshee, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her. Not a crossover, highly AU -obviously-
1. Episode 1: Prologue

**Episode 1: Prologue**

It was a nice day on the Citadel. Although the Reaper War was over, the reapers themselves are living, as well as their husks, although they live their independent life and are a part of the newly formed Citadel Council. This Council is a little different, as it's led by the quarians. While all other races rebuilt, the quarians helped the humans repopulate Earth in exchange for the beam to the Citadel. The Leviathans were still a problem. A small reaper team fixed that little problem by going through the relay, and closing it, trapping themselves in the same system as the Leviathans.

The raloi was in the newly formed Council as well, although they kept thinking that they are second-class citizens in the galactic society.

During their trip to the Omega-4 relay, Shepard got romantically interested in Miranda, his executive officer. In the middle of the Reaper War they didn't had time to visit each other, after Shepard defeated the reapers, they got reunited magically in a hospital.

"Don't you think we should wait?" John Shepard, former Alliance Commander asked when they stepped into the Saint Anderson church. "We don't have a reaper war in front of us."

"Why? I think we're ready." She said. All their family members already gathered for the rehearsal, with Oriana Lawson on Miranda's side, and Hannah Shepard on John's side.

"I don't really know…" John said as they walked past their family members. The priest was Harbinger.

"Okay, let's get it done fast, I have a meeting with the Leviathan team in an hour." It said, with its characteristic deep robotic voice. Of course, no church is built that huge that a reaper capital ship can fit in, so it appeared on a hologram.

. . .

"Let's try this again, Master Shepard," Harbinger said, getting annoyed.

"Yes, yes." John said, while sweating. Miranda looked a little annoyed; they'd been standing there for over half an hour, doing nothing, really.

"So… With this hand," John says, putting his right hand over his chest, "I will take your wine."

Harbinger roared and almost shot a beam toward the empty sky. "No. It seems you cannot comprehend it. Let's try this again. With this hand, I will lift your sorrows," It says, "Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you, to be mine. I would've asked the organic's memory before the event, but my processing power still can't comprehend you."

"I got, I got it." John said, taking four steps forward, bumping into the table.

"Three steps, three! You do not wish to be married, Master Shepard?"

"No!"

"You do not?" Miranda asked.

"No, I do not… not want to be married." John answered.

"This wedding can't take place until he learns his vows!" Harbinger was heard roaring.

. . .

John was running in the artificial forest for an hour, until he didn't hear the crowds of the markets. Only if Anderson would see him now…

While walking in the artificial forest, he tries to remember his vows. "Just some sentences, how can it be so difficult?" He asks.

He then approaches a small clearing in the forest. He sits down. Then, like lighting, he remembers what to say. He quickly stands up, and imitates being at a wedding.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows," He starts, "Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine." He remembers that unfortunately Miranda has no parents. If she had one, he would've asked them, not Oriana to marry her. "With this candle, I will light your way in darkness."

He was ready for the final moment. He pulled out the ring, "With this ring, I ask you, to be mine," he said, then put the ring on a tree-looking object. Only, it wasn't a tree.

A dim light slowly emitted through the artificial dirt, and the space station rumbled a little. John felt a hand with claws on his hand grabbing him. Panicking, he quickly jumped back. Shocked, he tried to see what's happening.

A banshee stepped out from the dirt. She quickly dusted herself, and looked at John with her two big black eyes and said, "I do."


	2. Episode 2: The Corpse Bride

**Episode 2: The Corpse Bride**

John started to run deeper into the forest at the moment he saw the mysterious banshee crawling out from the dirt. During the Reaper War, he killed hundreds of thousands, but now, he was unarmed. For him, it was a nightmare. The banshee just followed him, slowly teleporting from one location to another. The metal floor of the forest was slippery, so at one point, John almost fell, but he could keep his balance.

Fortunately, he arrived to the markets. A lot of people were walking or just looking at the stores. In front of Shepard, there was the Rodam Expeditions. He remembered that he endorsed them, and the old turian might be able to help. Quickly running into the store, he exclaimed, "Help! A banshee's following me!"

The shopkeeper turian just looked at him, with his eyebrow-looking thing raised. Shepard turned to the entrance to the shop, but didn't saw the banshee. He let out a sigh, and then heard screaming behind him, so he turned scared.

The banshee was standing there, behind the counter, and screamed again. She quickly reached out for Shepard, you tried to run away, but the banshee's claws already got hold.

"You may kiss the bride." The banshee screamed, while she tried to meld with Shepard, who passed out.

. . .

_"Promise me, that we'll get old together. Promise me you'll never leave me."_

. . .

"He must've fainted!" The banshee screamed, as Shepard regained his consciousness. He wasn't on the Citadel anymore; the area looked like Omega's slums.

"He's still soft!" A vorcha said, and started to poke the human at his belly.

"Looks like you've got yourself a breather!" A cannibal said, while looking deep into Shepard's eyes. The cannibal opened its mouth, and leaned closer to Shepard. But as its face touched Shepard's, another banshee appeared.

"Does he have a dead brother?" She asked. The other banshee screamed at her, then sent a biotic shockwave at her, what sent her flying off from the platform they were on.

When realizing what's happening, Shepard wanted to back up, but he was leaning toward a wall, so he couldn't go anywhere.

"A toast, then!" A husk said, while raising his glass. Another husk did so, "To the newlyweds!"

Shepard was confused. When he was able to speak, he said, "Newlyweds?"

"Oh, in the woods, you said your vows so perfectly," she screamed, then showed a ring on her claws.

"I did…" Shepard asked himself, and then hit the counter with his head in denial, "Wake up! Wake up!" He screamed, as somebody approached him.

"Welcome, welcome; coming through, coming through!" A voice said. When Shepard looked up, he saw a female quarian arriving with a plate in her hand, "My name is Tali, and I will create your wedding feast!" She said with enthusiasm.

"What?" Shepard asked, but was interrupted by a small salarian, coming out from the banshee's eye.

"A wedding feast; could run tests on the food, if needed. Did test on seashells, could help with creating perfect cake. Also, hope it won't create another genophage." He quickly said.

"Salarians, hehehe," The banshee said, with fake laughing, and trying to cover her black eye. Shepard froze in place, and tried to say something, but couldn't.

Shepard tried to go somewhere, but he didn't know where, this place seemed new to him. The tripped over something, and grabbed a husk's arm to not fall over. When regaining his balance, he quickly grabbed the husk, and said, "I've got a…", and held him as a shield, "A husk. I want some questions, now!"

"Answers! I think you mean answers." The husk said.

"Thank you, yes, answers. I need answers!" He said, and then looked around the room. "What's going on here," he asked, while looking at two marauders, playing billiards. "Where am I," he asked, as he looked to the banshee. "Who are you?"

Everybody got quiet in the corridor, even the vorcha were looking in silence. The banshee opened her mouth to scream something, but a marauder interrupted her.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Garrus Vakarian, and I'd like to tell you a very interesting story," he said, with a characteristic voice of a marauder. "And it's about none other than your lovely new wife." He said, then signaled to some other marauder over by an omni-tool, and music started playing.

"This is gonna' be good!" The husk in Shepard's hand said, startling the human, dropping the husk.

"A tragic tale of romance, passion, and murder with a giant perfectly calibrated gun."

. . .

_Author's note_: Thanks for everyone who read this little story so far. If you can, please review, favorite and follow the story! I'm trying to update every other day. And for those wondering about the character tags: who do you think the banshee is? And Harbinger will be back, along with some of his friends, so don't expect a canon Corpse Bride story.


	3. Episode 3: Liara

**Episode 3: Liara**

_"I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is my favorite story about the Corpse Bride!" _The marauder sang, but Shepard didn't wait for him to stop, he escaped. Unfortunately for him, the banshee saw him, and went after him. _"Yeah!"_

. . .

"John, darling, where are you?" The banshee asked loudly. She was on the streets, crowded with different species and former reaper husks.

"Your boyfriend… Jumpy; probably not a good sign. Should run more tests, while here." The salarian inside the banshee's head said.

"He's not my boyfriend. He's my husband." The banshee screamed, while showing herself the ring on her finger. "John? Where've you gone?"

"Found his omni-tool number. Running a scan, should take a moment." The salarian said, while popping out the banshee's eye. After a couple of seconds, the salarian's own omni-tool beeped, signaling that Shepard's is here, too. Quickly looking around he find him, "There he goes! Getting away, recommending immediate action!"

"John!" The banshee popped her eye back, and then screamed, then started teleporting after Shepard, who went past an omni-tool shop.

The omni-tools flashed online, showing where Shepard just went; giving directions to the banshee. "Thank you," she said to the omni-tools as they were living, breathing objects, thanks to the event.

"John?" She kept asking. Shepard was inside a small street, which had collector-styled coffins. Thinking quickly, Shepard jumped into one, and pretended dead. "Where are you?" The banshee kept asking.

"John?" The banshee said as she passed Shepard in the coffin. After Shepard opened his eyes, a rachni approached him, and talked through a husk.

"She sings your… name… You… married? I'm… a breeder." It said. Shepard got scared, and then ran away. For the best of his knowledge, he destroyed the breeder during the Reaper War. "He went that way!" The breeder said loud enough, so the banshee can hear it.

Shepard ran on Omega's small, dead-ended streets. He looked around to see where the banshee is, and he saw her to the left hand side. Shepard continued to run forward on the dirty, cold metallic floor.

After a minute or so, he bumped into another dead-end, but now, he heard the banshee's characteristic teleporting sound coming closer and closer to him. Not seeing any other option, he began to climb Afterlife's building.

He was about half through, when he looked down. He felt losing his balance, but somebody got a hold of him. Shepard looked up, and saw the banshee's two black eye, looking back at him. "What the…"

The banshee helped him get up to the roof of Afterlife with her claws. She released him, and turned around, and started slowly walking. "Isn't the view terrific?" She asked.

"I'd call it terrible." Shepard said not loud enough for the banshee to hear.

"It takes my breath away," she said, while taking a deep breath, then adding, "Umm, it would, if I have any," then laughed.

She sat down to a bench, and signaled to John to do the same. Shepard carefully sat down, still shaking and confused of what happened.

"Look… I'm terribly sorry of what's happened to you, but I really need to go home." He tried to say.

"This is your home now!" The banshee said. She looked at the vista of the space station below them, glowing in the fifty shades of red.

"But… I don't even know your name!" Shepard said, trying not to look into the banshee's eyes or at the banshee at all.

"Asking questions… Great start to a bonding. Never understood aliens." The voice from the banshee's head was heard again.

"Ssshhh, shut up!" The banshee said, covering her eyes, ears and other holes on her head at the same time with her giant claws, and then let out a nervous laugh.

Shepard just looked at her confused, quizzically and tired.

"It's Liara." The banshee already said.

"Liara…" Shepard repeated. They looked at each other for a minute. Shepard still didn't understand why he got here, why this banshee is thinks he's married to her. He hoped that in the real world, his Miranda still waits for him.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Liara said, and then handed over a present to Shepard. "It's a wedding gift!" She says.

Shepard shakes it a little, and heard little things colliding within the box. Liara looked at him frightened. When Shepard opened the box, he found metallic parts in it – being a biotic, he didn't knew anything about engineering, so this present was just as useless as Oriana's wedding gift, toilet cleaner with mass effect fields. She said it's good because you don't have to touch it when you clean the toilet.

Suddenly the box in Shepard's hand started to shake; Shepard accidentally dropped it, throwing the metal parts on the floor. But seconds later, the metal parts were pulled together by Liara's biotic field. With a little electricity, it became a living mech dog, similar to what Shepard had during the Reaper War.

"This can't be… Sophie?" He asked. The mech dog tilted its head, then ran to the human's feet.

. . .

_Author's note_: Thanks to those who reviewed the story, and to everyone who reads it. If you have any suggestion on the characters, feel free to pm me, or write it in your review; so please review if you can, and favorite & follow! And again, thanks for reading!


	4. Episode 4: Elder Sovereign

**Episode 4: Elder Sovereign**

"Oh, she's so cute!" Liara said, as Sophie jumped to her lap. It was finally a peaceful moment for the banshee; she's sitting on a bench, midnight, watching the moon with her living husband…

"Joker, my helmsman, never really liked Sophie. He said that he won't clear up oil patches after her. But then again, he never really liked anything beside the Normandy." Shepard said; Liara watched him, completely beguiled by her husband.

"You think he would've approved of me?" Liara asked.

"You're lucky you'll never have to meet him. He would probably ask about your tentacles, and your… claws." Shepard said, and thought for a second. If not Joker, she should 'meet' his mother, so he gets a chance to go back to the Citadel. "Actually… now that you've mentioned it… I think you should meet with my mother. In fact, why don't we go now?"

"Oh! What a fantastic idea! In which district are they?"

"Umm…"

"What? What is it?"

"She's not from around here…"

"Where is she?" Liara asked. Shepard didn't answered, he opened his omni-tool, and point to the Citadel on the galaxy map. "Oh, she's still there… Well, that is a problem." She said. The relay network isn't in the best shape, so travelling isn't allowed for private ships. Sophie let out an electric growl, like she wanted to tell something. But thanks to the event, both Shepard and the banshee understood her.

"Who is she talking about?" Shepard asked Liara.

"Elder Sovereign."

. . .

Sophie growled loudly, as they walked on the stairs, leading to the highest and largest building on Omega. It was two kilometer in all three directions. "Ssshhh, Sophie!" Liara screamed, as quietly as a banshee could. "Elder Sovereign!" Liara screamed, a little louder. They continued to walk upwards, as they reached a room, "Are you there?"

Liara looked around the large room, which spanned across the whole building, enough for a reaper capital ship to park there. "Hello? Is anyone home?" She kept asking. The room was dark, so she was searching for a switch, which she found after tapping everything, except what she wanted.

A few clicks were heard, then as the lights turned on, both Liara and Shepard got blind for a second. Sovereign was in front of them, hovering on the ground, doing nothing.

"There you are!" The banshee screamed at the reaper.

"Liara… What brings you here…" It asked in a low robotic sound. The whole room shook.

"We want to go to the Citadel; to visit my husband's mother! We thought you could help us, because the relays are still closed!" She screamed.

"Confidence born of ignorance. After the event, we understand organics, their rules cannot be broken."

"Please!" She screamed.

"It seems to us that you can't comprehend it." Sovereign was heard speaking.

"Please, I beg you, it means so much to me," he said, then quickly added, "us."

"You still can't comprehend it."

"Please, Elder Sovereign! Surely there must be something you can do!"

"Okay. Wait here as I process incoming data," Sovereign said, and the lights started to blink, due to the reaper's high electricity consumption. "Data analyzed. A reaper capital ship will go to the Citadel at 3pm today. If you want to come back, signal to it through your omni-tool and you'll be teleported to the ship."

"Thank you Elder Sovereign!"

"But now I must ask you to leave; this conversation is over." It said the all lights turned off. Liara and Shepard walked out of the building. 3pm is just an hour away.

. . .

"You've promised that we get old together! You've promised that you'll never leave me!" Miranda shouted onto her omni-tool, speaking to Shepard's answering machine. "This is the fifth time I try to call you, why don't you answer me?" She asked.

"Miranda, please, come. You didn't even touch your food." Oriana tried to get her eating, but she just couldn't.

"I'm not hungry!" She yelled at her sister.

Oriana turned on the holo-screen, to see what's in the news. Shepard's and a banshee's face was on the screen, and the announcer said, "_While authorities try to find the first human spectre, former Alliance Commander John Shepard may be seen with a mysterious asari reaper husk. A video was made of the incident, where we can see a banshee grabbing a human inside the Rodam Expeditions office. When asked the turian shopkeeper, he said, 'the banshee just teleported inside, grabbed the human and then teleported away.' Many think the reapers are gone rogue again…"_

Miranda heard the news report, and said, "Nonsense, John wouldn't do anything like this!"

"Miranda, you do not know. Maybe…"

"Maybe you just need to shut up!" Miranda snapped, and rushed out of the apartment onto the markets.

. . .

The reaper transporting Shepard and the banshee just arrived, and while they're docked to the Citadel, they need to spend another ten hours inside the reaper to wait for the decontamination. Until then, they're on their own.

. . .

_Author's note_: This isn't my best chapter. Confrontation between Miranda/Liara and Liara/Shepard will follow in the next chapter. I'm planning this story to be 8-10 chapters long. And as always, thanks for reading!


	5. Episode 5: I'm his wife

**Episode 5: "I'm his wife."**

Liara was stunned at the beauty of the Widow star as they stepped out of the airlock of the reaper. "I spent so long on Omega, I'd almost forgotten, how beautiful this station is." She said. The five wards of the Citadel stretched out in front of them.

They walked to the elevator, and stepped in. It was a long descending, and while doing so, a news report was played, "_A forty-nine-year-old, unidentified cannibal went berserk last night, opening fire with his hand cannon in the crowded lower markets. C-Sec is still searching for him_."

They finally arrived at the C-Sec academy, with its walls all covered in the cannibal's picture, and an omni-tool number to call if anyone found him. They stepped out of the elevator, and Shepard turned to the banshee.

"I think I should prepare Mother for the big news." He said, and looked around. Various species and reaper husks were walking around the academy; of course, most of they were quarians, with their environment suits in the colors of the rainbow. Shepard found one in purple colors, one in dark green colors and one in white. The most common was of course darker grey; due to those were the councilor's environment suit colors. "I'll go ahead… and you… wait here." Shepard added.

"Perfect," Liara said, not knowing the first human spectre's real intentions.

"I won't be long!" He said, and in a second, he was lost in the crowd. The banshee found a bench and sat down.

. . .

Shepard looked back, and was relieved to not find the banshee. He quickly made his way to the Presidium, to go to their apartment_. I hope she won't be angry_, he thought. Shepard stopped at halfway to their apartment. _What if Oriana is there? I don't really want to meet with her. I think she'll kill me for I left her sister at our wedding_. He though, then turned left to the markets.

. . .

"Voice of conscience; no time to explain, instincts always right." The salarian inside the banshee's head said. Liara tried to listen to it. "Bad feeling; need to find him; remember he's no- "The salarian said, but the banshee already threw him out of his head onto the metal floor of the academy.

"Go analyze someone else's mind for a while." The banshee screamed at the salarian sitting in front of her on the floor. "Shepard went to see his mother; just like he said."

"Would say lost mind, but, I ran tests." The salarian said, then took a deep breath. "Still there."

"I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason for staying so long…" The banshee screamed, a little quieter.

"Sure, sure, why not ask?"

"I will."

"Ran tests, fortunately not created another genophage, but, tracked his movements; sending it to your omni-tool."

. . .

Shepard has been walking around the markets for a while when he saw someone. Miranda was sitting on a bench in the Presidium Commons. Shepard approached her. "Miranda."

"Shepard? Where've you been?" She asked. "Are you alright?"

"I… I… oh, dear." Shepard couldn't say a single word.

"You're as cold as death… Have your cybernetics stopped working?" Miranda asked with her ice queen voice. "Your jacket…" She said, referring to his N7 leather jacket.

"Miranda… I need to tell you something. I was always terrified of marriage. I couldn't think about settling down. But when I met you, I felt I should always be with you…"

"John…" Miranda said, "I feel the same… But after what happened at the rehearsal, I don't know what to do."

Just as Miranda said those words, Shepard saw a banshee walking around the Commons. He instantly remembered her. He wanted to draw Miranda's attention to himself, but his tries were unsuccessful. The banshee quickly teleported behind Shepard, making Miranda draw his weapon, pointing at the monster.

"Shepard? Who's this?" The banshee screamed, while holding Shepard's hand.

"Who is she?" Miranda asked, keeping her weapon at the banshee's head.

"I'm his wife." The banshee said, showing Miranda Shepard's ring.

Miranda looked at the ring for a second, the lowered her weapon, "Shepard?" She asked confusingly.

"Miranda, wait, you don't understand. She's dead, look!" Shepard said, pointing at the banshee.

The banshee seemed offended, grabbed Shepard and then dialed the reaper's number on her omni-tool. In a flash, they both were gone, leaving a very confused Miranda behind.

. . .

They arrived back to the reaper. Elder Sovereign was on a holo-projector. "You lied to me!" Liara said, "Just to get back to that other woman!"

"Don't you understand? You're the other woman!" Shepard tried to explain.

"No! You're married to me! She's the other woman!" Liara said, while screaming and pointing toward the airlock.

"She is correct." Elder Sovereign said.

"I thought this was going well." Liara screamed. One of her tentacles has fallen. Shepard picked it up, and gave it back to her.

"Look… I'm sorry but. This just doesn't work."

"It's my tentacles and claws, isn't it?" Liara asked.

"No! Your claws are… beautiful." Shepard said. "Listen… Under other circumstances… who knows? But we're just too different… I mean you're dead!" Shepard added.

"You' should've thought about that when you asked to marry me!" Liara screamed.

"Why can't you understand… I would never marry you!" Shepard said, and immediately regretted it. The banshee looked at him, then teleported away.

. . .

_Author's note: Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter, but two more chapters come later today! And if you can, please review, favorite and follow; thanks for reading!_


	6. Episode 6: Tears to shed, Screams to say

**Episode 6: Tears to shed, Screams to say**

"Roses, for eternal love." The banshee said, sitting down on the floor of a street on Omega's slums. "Assault Drones, for sweetness…" She said getting more and more upset. "Omni-tools…" She added, in sadness.

Sophie came to the street, and sniffed at various things. A rachni breeder walked into the room as well, and asked through the many dead husk, "Why is your song so empty?"

"Maybe he's right! Maybe he does belong with her." Liara screamed.

"His head… needs testing!" The salarian said. The banshee shook her head, and the salarian sat down on the floor. "Has to be me! Someone else will get it wrong!"

"Or perhaps he does belong to her… Ms. Lawson? With her curvy cheeks and… smooth skin." She said.

"Oh, those humans are useless. They don't sing well. You can still sing what you feel; he might want you."

The banshee confusedly turned her head, and looked at nothing. He heard the salarian saying, "Living… What can they offer?" Stressing out the word _living_.

"She can't sing as well as you do!" The breeder said.

"How 'bout a smooth skin?"

"Overrated by a mile." The salarian answered.

"Overrated!" The breeder confirmed him.

"Overblown!" The salarian said. "Should show real personality!" The banshee seemed offended.

"She… isn't wearing a ring! He's yours!" The breeder said, holding the banshee's claws with the ring on it.

"She doesn't have reaper friend, husk friends!" The salarian tried to comfort her, but it seemed the banshee won't let it go.

"But she still lives there!" She said, meaning the Citadel. Most common races didn't like husks, so the ones on the Citadel are diplomats, or working for the government.

"Who cares?" The breeder asked.

"Overrated!" The salarian answered it.

"Unimportant!" The breeder confirmed the salarian as they walked around the banshee to see her face.

The banshee looked at them for a minute, then stood up, and teleported a few meters away. "I can't touch something! If I try, I'll damage it. It doesn't really matters if he cut me in half! And her skin is smooth opposed to mine!" She screamed, and then disappeared in the streets.

. . .

"What happened to you, Miranda?" Oriana asked when Miranda stepped into her apartment. Miranda was shaking, a thing she never did after she escaped her father and joined Cerberus.

"I met him." She tried to say, but only a few parts escaped her mouth.

"What? I don't understand you!" Oriana said.

"I met with Shepard!" Miranda screamed.

"What? He was here?"

"Yes, in the markets." Miranda answered, lowering her head and proceeding to the kitchen.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm leaving."

"To where?"

"First, to Harbinger. Then I'll leave the Citadel. Maybe I'll go back to Earth, or Arcturus." Miranda said, and already left when Oriana could stop her.

. . .

Miranda walked back into the church, and was reliving her memories about the wedding.

_"Don't you think we should wait?" He asked with concern in his voice as we stepped inside the Saint David Anderson church. "We don't have a reaper war in front of us." He added._

_"Why? I think we're ready." I said. I've been waiting for so long for a man. We walked inside, and saw Oriana and Ms. Shepard in front of us. _

_"I don't really know…" He said as we walked past them. At the moment we stopped at the front of the church, Harbinger appeared on a hologram._

"Can I help you?" Harbinger asked on the very same hologram. It sensed someone appearing in the church midnight.

"Yes, in fact, I have a question for you."

"Can this wait? Understanding organics is a really slow and long process." It said.

"You're the only one who knows what awaits us after we've became husks."

"Bad topic for an organic bride-to-be," it said angrily.

"Can a living marry a husk?" She finally asked.

. . .

Miranda was at her apartment, packing with Oriana watching. "I've made my mind, so don't try with anything." She said. She had enough of Shepard.

"I don't know. What if he comes back?"

"Weren't you the one who said he won't come back?" Miranda asked. Oriana stayed silent.

"Please, I beg you, don't go!" Oriana asked her.

"We'll see each other. But I just can live with his memory…"

"But… he could come back!"

"Shepard is gone. I'll leave tomorrow."

. . .

Joker has been on shore-leave. Thanks to the cybernetic upgrades due to the event, he can walk freely without incidents. But on a day, he got trapped into an ancient reaper trap, which turned him into a husk. But thanks to the event again, it was not painful, and he didn't become a servant.

Not knowing what to do, he calls the Normandy.

. . .

_Author's note: Joker is dead, but Tali isn't. They'll have a more important role in the next two chapters; the story is nearing to its end, maybe one more chapter after the two and an epilogue. Thanks for reading, and if you can, please review, favorite and follow!_


	7. Episode 7: Husks, husks everywhere!

**Episode 7: Husks, husks everywhere**

„Uhhh, Normandy?" Joker said into his omni-tool.

"Joker? Is that you?" The woman answered.

"Yeah, Traynor."

"Your voice seems a bit… different. Are you alright?"

"Not exactly. It seems, uhhh, I became a husk."

"Oh my god! I can get Dr. Chakwas there, should I call anyone else?"

"No, no it's okay… I guess."

"How bad is it?"

"Only a few tubes going outside my body…"

"Where are you?"

"Omega, I think." He said, while looking around. He noticed something. "Wait, don't call anyone else, I think I found Shepard."

Miranda has been searching for Shepard in secret. She called Admiral Hackett, his former teammates, and of course, the Normandy. But Joker didn't know that Miranda kind of found Shepard.

"I'm going to look around." Joker said, and then disconnected the call.

. . .

Shepard thought about his argument with Liara. Maybe he was really rude with her. Saying that he would never want to marry to a banshee is the worst thing to say. He slowly walked around the slums, when Sophie ran to him. She said something in a robotic language. Shepard opened the door, and then stepped in.

The banshee was sitting near a quasar slot machine, pressing the button over and over again. "I… want to apologize for… what I said."

Seeing no response from the dead asari, Shepard continues. "I'm sorry." Then an idea gets in his head. He pulls out an OSD from his pocket, and inserts it into the slot machine. Schells' program is still on it, from 2183. Liara presses the button a few more times, always winning the money.

"How did you do that?" Liara asked.

"With a little luck, I guess."

"That wasn't fair!" She said.

"But you liked it." Shepard answered, when someone was arriving to the building. Nobody seemed to recognize him as he went to Tali.

"I'm sorry, have you seen John Shepard?" He asked.

Tali was ready to point at the human near the banshee at the quasar machines, but Shepard already presented himself. "Joker! It's so good to see-" The look of Joker frightened him a little. He wasn't really turned into a husk, a tube went from his legs to his stomach, and one from his hands to his chest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no big problems. Everybody's searching for you!"

"I know. What about Miranda?"

"She's leaving the Citadel."

"To where?"

"Nobody knows. Not even Oriana. We tried to stop her, but she doesn't listen."

. . .

"Miranda, you don't have to do this!" Oriana begged as she saw her sister moving her bags with her biotics.

"But I have to, don't you understand? If I stay here, I always be reminded of what Shepard did to me!"

"No! Please, don't go!" Oriana asked, but her sister was already in her sky-car, flying towards the docks. The travel time is roughly five hours, so she have plenty of time to think.

. . .

"I'm too late." Shepard though, while sitting outside the building. A minute passed when he heard the banshee speaking with the vorchas.

"He just walked off, without saying a word! Are all men like this?"

"I have a thing to discuss." Elder Sovereign said, with his picture appearing on a hologram.

"I need to tell, has to be me! Someone else would do it wrong!" The salarian said.

"What?" The banshee screamed.

"Your bond is not official. We declared that a bond is stopped when someone is turned. In your case, you are already turned."

"Needs to be me!"

"I don't understand."

"Need to turn him to husk as well!"

The banshee was shocked. "The human needs to say his bonding vows on the Citadel, then push him into a Dragon's Teeth. That way, the bonding ceremony would be completed."

"I could never ask him!" The banshee screamed, but Shepard stepped into the room.

"You don't have to." Shepard said.

"Shepard. If you do this, you can't return to the Citadel again. Do you comprehend the weight of the situation?"

"I do." He answered to Elder Sovereign.

. . .

_Author's note: A small chapter. And as always, thanks for reading, and if you can, please review, follow and favorite!_


	8. Episode 8: Assuming direct control

**Episode 8: Assuming direct control of this ceremony**

„Gather round everyone!" Shepard was heard saying just outside Afterlife. A group of various races gathered, with Joker and Tali as well. "We decided to do this thing properly. So put everything onto Sovereign, then follow us to the Citadel!"

"The Citadel?" Someone said in the crowd. "I've never been there!" A vorcha said.

Everybody moved to pack for the journey. A group of rachni stayed, and got more close to Shepard. "Hold… on!" A breeder said, stopping Shepard from going anywhere. "The clothes…" She said, and then screamed to the other rachni.

Several hundred rachni workers appeared from the streets of Omega, and a dozen rachni soldiers surrounded Shepard. The workers helped repair Shepard's clothes and the soldiers brought new clothes. When the rachni finally stopped what they were doing, Shepard had a brand new black and white suit.

A group of vorchas were assigned a task to create a wedding cake under the command of Tali. The quarian girl helped the vorchas in everything. She tasted the cake, and then said, "It needs something more!"

"I've already put some dust in it. Didn't get any better!" A vorcha screamed, and then put in some more dust taken from the streets. Tali tasted it another time, and then hit the vorcha for being an idiot.

Two volus were walking with Shepard, when the banshee appeared in the distance. "Here," the volus said, the breathed, "she comes." Shepard looked at the banshee arriving with two rachni soldier. She slowly walked toward the human male. Shepard got more and more nervous with every step she took.

When she was close enough, she grabbed Shepard's hand, and they continued to walk toward Omega's docks. The look of the happy banshee bride made the salarian crying.

. . .

Oriana was talking with Hannah Shepard about her son's sudden leaving. The mother was sure that John didn't left Miranda out of his own will; somebody must've taken him. As they discussed it in Apollo's Café in the Presidium Commons, Oriana noticed that the Common's usual blue light turned red, and a reaper was levitating just beside them. Seconds later, husks, marauders, banshees and other Omega creatures were swarming out of Sovereign.

When people heard the reaper growling and saw the swarms of husks, they got scared and thought the reapers are gone rogue again. But with closer inspection, someone noticed a person within the crowd of husks.

A synthetic being noticed a husk, casually leaning to the railing. She remembered the husk, and approached him. "Jeff?" She asked, touching the husk's back.

He turned, and looked at the synthetic. "EDI?" Joker asked. After he was turned to a husk, he thought that he won't be seeing EDI again. They embraced in a hug, letting the swarm of husks going past them.

. . .

When people stopped running around they noticed that every husk is approaching the St. Anderson church. Oriana walked with the group of the dead into the church, and sat down on the fifth row.

She saw Shepard standing with Elder Sovereign on a holo projector. Sovereign played a tune with its giant reaper specific omni-tool, and the banshee walked in, with vorcha bridesmaids.

The banshee grabbed the human's hand, and then they faced the holo projector of Sovereign.

"I am the vanguard of this wedding. We are gathered here to see how this organic being and his synthetic being impose order on their chaos. We are the beginning they are the end."

Miranda noticed the swarm going into the very same church as she had several days ago, so she went in as well to see what's happening. For her great astonishment, she saw Shepard standing there with a banshee.

"Organic first." Sovereign said.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows," Shepard said, while Miranda walking closer and closer, "Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine."

"Now, synthetic." Sovereign said.

Shepard looked deeply into the banshee's large black eyes as she screamed, "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows." She picked up a knife, which would turn Shepard into a husk. "Your cup will never empty," she said, and started putting the knife onto Shepard's leg, but stopped when she noticed Miranda. She sighted, and started stuttering, "Your cup… will never empty… for I will be…" She just couldn't say the last word with Miranda looking at her.

"Damn it Sovereign!" Harbinger said. Sovereign growled when it saw Harbinger appearing on the horizon of the Citadel. "I didn't let you assume control of the ceremony!"

"I am the vanguard!" Sovereign argued while shooting a laser beam at Harbinger.

"I am the harbinger of their ascension!" Harbinger dodged the beam and counterattacked.

"What's going on?" Miranda rushed in, looking at the holographic screen, now showing the fight of the two most powerful reapers. Shepard jumped at the voice of the human female.

The screen faded to black, and they heard a loud explosion, similar to one caused by a Harvester. Seconds passed, everybody in the church was silent.

The screen came back online, showing Harbinger, "Shepard. You're an annoyance."

Not letting Shepard speaking, Liara spoke, "It is right. I was a bride, and I love you. But you don't love me…" She said, and pulled Miranda closer to Shepard with her biotic abilities.

"Shepard!" Harbinger growled impatiently.

"I'm sorry, Liara." Shepard said.

"Marry her now." Liara said, and then left the room.

"Organic?" Harbinger said.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be…" Shepard said, and started thinking what to say next. Noticing this, Harbinger got angry.

"Damn it, Shepard!" It said, and then Shepard's eyes went yellow, "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL OF THIS FORM!"

Miranda got scared when Shepard started speaking in his and Harbinger's voice, "Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this ring, I ask you, to be mine."

"RELEASING CONTROL!" Harbinger said, and then Shepard's eyes returned to its natural blue.

Miranda was shocked for a few seconds, but when she saw the rings in Shepard's hand, she said, "I do!"

"The bride may be kissed!" Harbinger said, and then holographic screen faded to black. Shepard and Miranda embraced in a hug and then kissed for minutes.


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Miranda and Shepard settled down on Rannoch. Shepard said that he never liked bugs or insects, and he was fond of the idea of never encountering those anymore. Miranda bought air-conditioners to cool down the house in the 42 Celsius weather Rannoch usually has.

Liara went back to Omega, and met with Garrus, the marauder. They dated for a year, and then were married in the St. Wrecks church on Omega. They now have five banshee children.

EDI left Joker for the Normandy's microwave. She says that their love is indestructible. She wants to have children, but the microwave has yet to agree to it.

Joker married Tali. He didn't want to turn Tali into a husk, so he asked Harbinger if it can invent an anti-husk medicine. Fortunately, Joker's turn wasn't 100%, so with surgeries and medicine, he was turned back into a living creature, allowing him to marry Tali. They're living on Rannoch and are neighbors to Shepard and Miranda.

Harbinger, after killing Sovereign returned to Earth, coordinating future reaper colonies on the planet, and researching medicine to turn husks back to living creatures. Years later, 90% of husks are alive again.

Nosduh Yesac and Sretlaw Cam formed the anti-reaper community, wanting to get rid of the reapers at all. The council, with the help of the spectres, eliminated them in the fear of another Cerberus group. Official reason of the assaults was "to prevent doing something completely idiotic."

Padok Wiks salarian, and Kris'Pristly quarian spectres were promoted to councilors, replacing the old ones.

THE END.

. . .

Author's notes: Thanks to anyone who read this little story through. If you're bored, find all easter eggs in the story. Thanks for reading!


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